New Power Generation

Infobox musical artist
Name = New Power Generation


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Origin = Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Genre = Rock, pop, R&B, soul, funk, funk-rock, funk metal, New Wave, dance, psychedelic rock, hip-hop
Years_active = 1990-Present
Label =
Associated_acts = Madhouse
URL = [http://www.3121.com www.3121.com]
Current_members = Prince
Renato Neto
Morris Hayes
Cora Dunham
Josh Dunham
Mike Phillips
Maceo Parker
Lee Hogan
Greg Boyer
Shelby J.
Marva King

Past_members = ("see below")

The New Power Generation (or NPG for short) is the current backing group of musician Prince. They debuted on the 1991 album "Diamonds and Pearls". The name of the group comes from a song on his 1990 album "Graffiti Bridge"; however, the phrase "Welcome to the New Power Generation" was already mentioned on the opening track of 1988's "Lovesexy".

History

When Prince began his formal dispute with Warner Bros. and changed his stage name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993, the NPG became a side-project for Prince, allowing him to release music outside of his contract. The NPG was intended to appeal to a more urban audience than Prince's mainstream material.

The NPG's debut album, "Goldnigga", featured Tony M. as lead vocalist/rapper. The album relied heavily on rap, while the music itself was reminiscent of 1970s funk. Prince participated heavily in writing and performing the music, while Tony wrote and performed raps. Prince provided co-lead vocals on two songs, "Black M.F. in the House" and "Johnny", and the two were often performed by him in his own concerts and aftershows.

A reduced NPG returned to the Prince fold when he began performing under the symbolic moniker in early 1994, backing him on "The Gold Experience". The following year, this incarnation released "Exodus" in 1995. Now with Prince as Tora Tora as lead vocalist, the focus was more on funk. Although several raps were recorded for the album, they were left out of the final release. Prince again took a role behind the scenes, adopting the guise of the masked "Tora Tora" and performing lead vocals on several tracks, sometimes with an altered voice. His participation in this version of the NPG was much more apparent.

Three years later, another NPG album was released titled "Newpower Soul" (modifying a song name from "Exodus"). In fact, a spoken outtake from "Exodus" mentions the upcoming album, indicating its planning stages. Featuring an almost totally different version of the NPG (only Kirk Johnson and Morris Hayes were retained), Prince features prominently on the cover and liner notes and provides lead vocals on all songs. Unlike the two previous releases, the album relies heavily on drum programming by Kirk Johnson and features input from Larry Graham and Doug E. Fresh.

A fourth album, "Peace", due to be released in 2001, never materialized, although a few songs have been made public through limited-release singles or through Prince's [http://www.npgmusicclub.com official website] .

Band members

ee also

* List of number-one hits (United States)
* List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
* List of number-one dance hits (United States)
* List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
* New Power Generation Dance Company